What is a Christian?
by 0HeavensWill0
Summary: Are they self-righteous men and women? Are they extremists that are determined to force people of other beliefs to join their religion? Are they pushy, rude, holier-than-thou, and the type of people who condemn you to hell at the mention of "atheist"? No.


_**What is a Christian? **_

What is a Christian? Are they self-righteous men and women? Are they extremists that are determined to force people of other beliefs to join their religion? Are they pushy, rude, holier-than-thou, and the type of people who condemn you to hell at the mention of "atheist" or "homosexual"?

Is this how our God wants us to act?

God created man in the beginning as a creature that would worship him and serve him, not because we had to, but because we want to. God created us, and we are abusing his love. People say that Jesus never existed or that he was just a good man, but that isn't true. In the Old Testament, there are thousands of prophecies regarding Jesus' life and death. Do you know how unlikely it is that one man could have fulfilled all of those prophecies? There is a 1,000,000,000/1 chance of that ever occurring, probably even more.

Those of you who go out and proclaim your faith, good for you! But, _how_ are you going about it I wonder? I, for one, am not one that throws Bibles at people and condemns them to hell if they are of any other religion. No, I have several friends who are Atheist, Buddhist, Agnostic, and Mormon; I even know a few gay people. It's not a crime to have friends of other religions, and I spread my beliefs to them every day. The world doesn't need to be expunged of all "evils," of all religions and ethnicities; no, they need to be loved and cared for. Through loving and caring for them, we can bring them to Christ and show them his true, magnificent love.

Each and every one of them doesn't have Christ. They have a gaping hole inside of them that no one but God can fill. But, that doesn't justify treating them like a plague or like something is wrong with them because they aren't Christians. God called us to spread his word through love and care; you never read about Paul shouting the gospel at people and forcing them to convert. Paul was a fine example of a Christian. Yes, he started out as a man persecuting Christians, but when he heard Jesus' voice and saw him, he believed, repented, and went off to serve the Lord. He brought the word to people in Corinth, Philippi, and even his hometown Rome, but he didn't use force or aggression; he went there humble and ready to serve those very heathens who wanted him dead. He was persecuted, stoned, but he came to them in love and brought God's word to them.

I'm disappointed in what I'm seeing. I see people saying obscure things that are completely incorrect. You're not only being racist and not God-seeking, but how do you intend to follow God's commands when you're acting the same way as the people who persecuted Christians in Biblical times? How do you expect to save souls when all you are doing is condemning them? This is _not_ the way to go about bringing the gospel to those in need. God calls us to _save_ people from hell, not send them there.

Love is God, and God is love. He came to die for us while we _hated_ him. It didn't matter to him; we were worth it. Could you die for you enemies, for those who hated you? No. No, you couldn't. Those who say they could are lying. As 1 John 4:7 says, "My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God." We are to _continue_ to love _each other_. Not just Christians, but everyone around us. Do you know why?

Because the definition of love is Jesus Christ.

How can we expect God to love us when we mess up if we hate those who are already messing up? Everyone sins: not just non-Christians, but _everyone_. Every time you curse, every time you disrespect or disobey your parents you _are_ _sinning_. But, no matter what we do, God still loves us. As Psalms 118:1 says, his love never fails. It endures _forever_. We are to love everyone, no matter their race, religion, ethnicity, or if they are gay or not. Jesus ate with prostitutes and thieves. Remember Mary Magdalene or Zacchaeus? Mary was a prostitute and Zacchaeus was a tax collector who stole from the people, but Jesus still loved them.

Do you get what I'm trying to say here? Just because someone has a different religion does _not_ justify your horrible actions towards them. God made every single person in the world and he doesn't want us to treat each other in such ways. We are salt to the earth, the only light in a dark room, and if we are to spread God's word, we need to do it the _right _way. Don't shove Bibles at people or shout at them saying how they'll go to hell. Trust me, it's not the way. God is a loving God, one who cares for us, and he doesn't want anyone to go to hell. Hell is a place of torment, a place where those who do not believe and ask Jesus to be Lord of their life will spend eternity. They will forever burn in a lake of fire, crying out, with gnashing of teeth. They will suffer forever, and it's a punishment not to be wished upon anyone.

Yes, the Bible says God despises murderers, homosexuals, prostitutes, and sin in general, but in God's eyes a little white lie and murder are weighed the same. God has no measurement of sin as we humans do; all sin is equal, no matter how it seems to us.

Our country was founded under God; our forefathers didn't place "in God we trust" on our money because it looked pretty or had our pledge state "one country under God" because it rhymed. We are a godly nation, and all who say otherwise, shame on you. To take God out of such important things, if there was no God, then why would America have been founded? To those evolutionists, if humans evolved from monkeys, why don't we see more cavemen in the process of becoming humans?

As a final note, Christianity is the _only_ religion in which the God has a personal relationship with his creation. All of these other religions have to strive for perfection, when it obviously can never be reached. Their gods look down from above, watching them struggle, but our God sent his son, Jesus Christ, as a payment for our sins. He died for us so we wouldn't have to. Tell this to those who are of other religions; see what they say.

Please, _please _don't disregard this. This is important and needs to be read. I'm not a perfect, angelic Christian; I make mistakes and I know that. I'm not trying to act like a saint, but after hearing things under this topic, my heart was heavy and I had to write. If there's only one thing you get out of this, let it be:

Don't condemn; serve and save those who are lost.


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